The Bengals are getting a pair of defensive players back on the practice field.
Cincinnati announced on Wednesday that defensive end Myles Murphy and defensive tackle McKinnley Jackson have been cleared to practice, beginning their 21-day window to come back from injured reserve.
Murphy was previously designated to return when he went on IR on Aug. 27. Jackson was designated to return on Wednesday.
Murphy, the No. 28 overall pick of last year’s draft, recorded 3.0 sacks and three tackles for loss as a rookie, playing all 17 games. He was on the field for 28 percent of defensive snaps and 19 percent of special teams snaps.
The Bengals selected Jackson in the third round of the 2024 draft out of Texas A&M.
When the Bengals signed undrafted rookie punter Ryan Rehkow over the summer, he wasn’t even expected to make the team. As it turned out, he’s not just on the team. He’s doing things no punter in NFL history has done before.
Rehkow boomed the first punt of his career 80 yards, the longest punt in Bengals franchise history. In Week One he averaged 64.5 yards on his four punts, a new NFL record for the highest punting average in a game. And through four games he’s averaging 58.4 yards per punt, which would obliterate the former NFL record of 53.1 yards.
The Bengals have given up only 39 punt return yards so far this season, and Rehkow’s net average of 49.7 yards per punt would also be an NFL record for a season.
Rehkow hasn’t been perfect — his ratio of three touchbacks to two punts inside the 20-yard line is not very good — but he’s been good enough that it was an easy decision for the Bengals to cut their incumbent punter Brad Robbins after Robbins was cleared to return from the injury that opened the door to Rehkow making the team. Rehkow looks like an undrafted rookie who’s here to stay.
The Bengals announced a roster move involving punter Brad Robbins for the second day in a row.
Robbins was activated off of injured reserve on Monday and he has been placed on waivers Tuesday. Robbins could return to the team’s practice squad if he goes unclaimed.
The Bengals went with undrafted rookie Ryan Rehkow as their punter with Robbins out of action and he’s won the job moving forward thanks to a league-high 58.4-yard average on his nine punts with a net average of 49.7 yards.
Robbins was a sixth-round pick in 2023 and he averaged 44.3 yards per kick during his rookie season.
The Cowboys are adding a defensive end to the roster in the wake of injuries to DeMarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons.
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that they are signing KJ Henry off of the Bengals practice squad. The move will likely correspond to Lawrence going on injured reserve due to his foot injury.
Henry has played in two games for the Bengals this year and the 2023 fifth-round pick played 10 games for the Commanders during his rookie season. He had 19 tackles and 1.5 sacks in those appearances.
Marshawn Kneeland, Chauncey Golston, and Tyrus Wheat join Parsons and Lawrence as the defensive ends on the 53-man roster in Dallas. Veteran Carl Lawson is on the practice squad.
We try to avoid talking about MVP candidates until at least four games have been played. After Week 4, it’s open season on MVP chatter.
At the major sportsbooks, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is the favorite — with only six touchdown passes and five interceptions and a passer rating below 90. Bills quarterback Josh Allen, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, and Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud are among the other favorites.
Then there’s Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, Lions quarterback Jared Goff, and Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield.
Those names all make sense. The MVP has become a quarterback award, with the quarterbacks of the two teams that finish with the top seeds in the AFC and NFC the most likely winners.
For anyone else to do it, something historic or close to it needs to happen.
So for those who choose to peel off some of their disposable, discretionary income to make a responsible futures bet on MVP, they’re essentially betting that the player’s team will be the No. 1 seed, and that he’ll then get more votes than the quarterback of the other No. 1 seed.
